Taylor Swift - Midnights

"Midnight, you come and pick me up". "2am, and I'm cursing your name". "Lit through the darkness at 1:58". "4am the second day". Taylor Swift always becomes someone else when the clock strikes twelve.

The middle of the night is when she confesses her deepest secrets, indulges in her impulses and drives herself crazy overthinking. Staying up into the next day with someone is Taylor's love language, but it's also when she's out for blood. On her tenth studio album, we spend the night with an artist who often lets you know everything and nothing at the same time as she ruminates on the things that keep her up at night. "Meet me at midnight", she invites. Any time, Taylor.

After spending her last two albums in the forest, writing whimsical part-fact, part-fiction fairytales and dropping them at a moment's notice, 'Midnights' signals Taylor's return to the pop world, picking up where 'reputation' and 'Lover' left off. Largely pulling thematically from tracks like 'Call It What You Want' and 'End Game', as well as exploring themes in a song that had, until now, only been revealed in her Netflix documentary Miss Americana.

Ushering in the era with 'Lavender Haze', it's the most sultry track she's done since 'Dress', the themes following those introduced on 'reputation', a storyline where Taylor can ignore the slating if she's got her other half. 'Maroon' follows suit, keeping that buzzy, lamp-lit instrumental but twisting it more melancholic. The ways Taylor layers her vocals and practically harmonises with herself has always been a strong suit, but with the production here so pulled back, it really stands front and centre.